The smell

After eating he slowly gets up from his bed feeling a bit of energy return to his body he thinks " maybe i should return to that special space, no i can't let anyone find out that can't be a normal place i should just keep it a secret for now." feeling drained he sits down on a chair next to the door and proceeds to close his eyes and feel for his mana pool still as small as before he sighs out of frustration for the past 3 years it would be his daily routine to check for progress but after turning 15 a year ago his mana pool seemed to be stuck at a certain point.

Having worked in a forge since a very young age his village only had a small school that taught every villagers kids but the education was subpar only the basics of how mana works not even how to cultivate it. Basically mana is all over the world in the air, the ground, the water but not all living things can use it. That was basically all he had learned growing up but on the other hand he had become very proficient at smithing.

Anvil was thinking of what to do next and the smell just kept distracting him." First I need to clean myself up".

Anvil opens the door to his room to see a dimly lit hallway with four other doors and a staircase leading downstairs.

The smell of wood and mead permeated the air as he walked closer and closer to the stairs slowly taking step after step he made it down stairs to see a lively well lit bar filled with patrons as he looked out the window it's very dark out.

The Bar keep turns to Anvil with a smile on his face and shouted out" I see your finally up i was starting to think you were dead since someone left you outside my inn two nights ago lucky for you it was i who found you before anyone could take your things but let's be honest look at you you look like any random beggar.'' The man proceeds to laugh as his deep laughter bellows out and others begin to laugh as well.

"Where am I ? and thank you." Anvil replies

"Hahahaha, look at you boy you're a mess you are outside black rock!" the burly man replies

At hearing the words "Black rock" the drunk patrons yell out "aaaaayyyy" as laughter continues.

"Kid don't worry for now i've seen your Guild emblem though you look young to be in the smith's guild i was surprised but my Brother was a Black smith as well so for now dont worry about it just see it as a good deed to bring me good karma, hahahaha"

Anvil looks around at the joyous atmosphere and it brings him a bit of hope for his future as he is looking around he catches a glimpse of that girl from earlier as she is serving food and drinks to the customers.

The bar is a decent size with a few tables, sits well lit with a few light stones and torches and you can hear a bard singing in the corner as the people laugh and talk with one another.

The girl notices Anvil and makes her way to him even though the bar smells like mead and sweaty men as she approaches Anvil she tries to hold her breathe and points towards a door and says " it's about that time huh"

This time Anvil with an embarrassed expression replies" thank you for bringing me the food time to get cleaned up"

She looks at the Burly bar keep and says "Old man where are your old stuff look at this guy he needs to burn those clothes" as she says that the guys at the bar lose it and start laughing uncontrollably.

Anvils face turns a bright red as he shouts " its ok ill just clean these up for now "

She replies " it seems your arm isn't the only thing injured clearly you are very stubborn you can't walk around in those dirty rags. Can they even be considered clothes at this point?"

Once again the men all around start laughing and one says " there goes the queen poor guy."

The girl's face becomes slightly blushed as she turns to the man and lets out a small gust of wind from her palm as she chants some incantation the gust of wind knocks over the man that was sitting on the stool at the bar as the bar keep says " there she goes again " and lets out a soft laugh.

The other guys at the bar look over at the man on the ground and proceed to laugh at him now the guy on the ground looks angry as he is about to make a move the burly bar keep looks at the man an intimidating aura permeates the air and says " drop it your drinks on me".

The man stumbles for a second as the patrons at the bar go quiet and then the barkeep lets out a hearty laughter the bard continues to play.

"s-sure thing". The once angry man replies

Still with a blushed face the girl turns to Anvil and with an annoyed voice says " what are you still waiting for are you dim"

Anvil doesn't say a word as he walks over to the door and goes inside still sore he tried to rush away from the awkward situation but couldn't due to his sore muscles.

Everyone watches as Anvil turns around they see some of his butt from a rip in his pants and laughter roars once again. They can see him trying to escape from sight but he is moving away slowly.

After a very cold but refreshing bath Anvil walks over to the door and sees some used but fresh clothes by the side of the door and dresses himself. They are slightly big for him but at least they aren't ripped to tatters.

As he walks out of the bathroom the barkeep looks over and yells out " Oh Oh not bad you clean up well kid "

Anvil's face once again blushes as he sees the people focus on him he tries to rush back up stairs but i looks like he i walking slow on purpose as some people look confused and think "So slow this kid"

Anvil is trying hard but his muscles are still too sore he bites his teeth together as he is halfway up the stairs. The people lose interest and go back to what they were doing.

As Anvil gets to his room and sits down on the bed a knock could be hurd from his door followed by a soft voice saying "you still looked to be in pain so i brought you something" as he opens the door he sees the girl from earlier with a pill in hand.

She says" this is the last one we have but it should help you for the night" Anvil bows and reaches for the pill with his left hand and says " thank you very much you guys are so kind and to a total stranger" .

She replies" your just lucky my dad's a big softy if it was for me i can't say i'd bring you in" she lets out a sly smirk as he takes the pill from her.

As Anvils rough hand touches hers she looks at Anvil from head to toe after all the mud and grime were gone despite all the scratches he didn't look too bad slightly taller then she was with hazel eyes and jet black hair, strong arms but very chubby she slightly blushes turns around and starts to walk away

" My name's Anvil."he says "nice to meet you". Without turning around she says "im Carol " and continues to walk to the stairs.

Anvil swallows the pill with the leftover water from earlier and lays down in bed feeling relief all over he slowly feels his pain slightly go away as he falls into a deep sleep.